Michael Finley once helped the Mavericks emerge from a dark era. Did you know he's trying to do it again?

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NBA player Michael Finley speaks as wounded service members from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio eat dinner at Nick & Sam's restaurant on Monday, December 4, 2017 as part of the Dallas Mavericks' Seats for Soldiers event. The soldiers are flown from San Antonio to enjoy dinner and a Mavs game. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)

Quietly, though, the Mavericks' brain trust Trinity has in the past couple of years morphed into the Power Four.

The relative newcomer is Michael Finley. His Mavs title is assistant vice president of basketball operations, although on this recent morning at Pinstack he is the warmly received stand-in speaker for Plano mayor Harry LaRosiliere, welcoming 125 high school students to the mayor's fifth summer internship program.

"I'm currently working in the front office for the Mavericks, for Mark Cuban," Finley tells the kids. "You may have heard of him. Popular guy around here."

It doesn't show during his speech, or afterward as he coaxes the interns through team-building competitions, but Finley is bleary eyed from near-around-the-clock evaluations for next Thursday's NBA draft, in which Dallas holds the 5th, 33th and 54th picks.

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Finley says he's recently scouted players in Los Angeles, New York and Las Vegas, and of course he also represented the Mavericks in the May 15 draft lottery in his hometown of Chicago. But, keeping with the franchise's covert nature this time of year, Finley's divulging few specifics.

Nelson, however, makes no secret of Finley's growing voice in personnel matters. Finley joined front office in August of 2012, at the time without a title, two years after a 15-season NBA career, including with the Mavericks from 1996 to 2005.

These days, on the rare occasions Cuban publicly discusses franchise decisions, more often than not he sprinkles in "Fin says" or "Fin thinks" references.

"To see him come into his own as an executive, it's just incredible," Nelson says. "Since he's joined us he's had an increasingly more dominant role, and that has been critical to the success we've had, not just this year but before.

Cuban is 59, Carlisle 58, Nelson 55. Nelson was an All-America basketball player at Division III Wheaton College, but among owner, GM and coach only Carlisle played in the NBA - 188 games over five seasons, including with the 1986 NBA champion Celtics.

Finley was NBA All-Rookie first team in 1996 and a two-time All-Star (2000 and 2001) who helped the Mavericks rise from '90s NBA laughingstock to Western Conference force, though his lone NBA title ultimately came with the Spurs in 2007.

"Being a player that has 'been there, done that,' and being able to put your arm around young guys that need that kind of guidance is just critical," Nelson says.

Finley's specific Mavericks role and ultimate front office ambitions are little-known, mostly because he keeps a low public profile and grants few interviews.

On draft night last year, Finley represented management by speaking to reporters about the selection of Dennis Smith Jr. with the No. 9 overall pick, while Nelson and Cuban remained in the draft room to work the phones, but otherwise he's rarely asked to speak for the franchise on personnel matters.

That is why it is extra-refreshing to hear Finley's speech to high school interns at Pinstack, watch him interact with the kids and ask a few questions of Finley afterward.

Finley, who majored in business management at Wisconsin, in a sense has been an intern himself, though he's clearly risen up the Mavericks ranks. What is the biggest thing he has learned?

"To be honest, as a player you think you understand everything that's going on, on the business side," Finley says. "But once you get over there, you realize that you didn't know anything. You just knew an inkling of what goes on to run a team, to put a team together and put a quality product on the court.

"Since I've been on the management side, I've learned so much that I didn't know. It's very eye-opening."

After the 2004-2005 season, Finley got a harsh view of the NBA's business side from a player's perspective, when the Mavericks used an amnesty clause to waive him and avoid paying luxury taxes on the $52 million he was owed in salary over the next three years.

Cuban was able to avert paying an estimated $50 million in luxury taxes, but Finley still got his $52 million (spread out over annual installments) and was able to sign with the Spurs and win a title ring.

Mavericks fans sometimes booed Finley as a Spur, especially when the franchises met three times in the playoffs between 2006 and 2010, yet Finley obviously didn't harbor hard feelings toward Dallas fans or the franchise.

He kept the Plano home that he purchased in 1999 and still lives there while embarking on his NBA management career. He also in 2009 started a film production company, Follow Through Productions. He has financed and executive-produced multiple films and documentaries, but he says NBA management is his focus these days.

"Ultimately, everybody on our side wants to be able to run their own team someday," he says. "But like these [Plano high school] kids are learning and hopefully will transfer what they learn to the business world, I'm taking all I'm learning from Donnie and from Mark.

"So when my name is called for me to run a team one day, I'll be prepared."

A philanthropic spirit

James Edward/

Michael Finley, the Dallas Mavericks assistant vice president of basketball operations, delivers a lesson on team building during the 5th annual Plano Mayor s Summer Internship Program at Pinstack.

Among the teenagers intently listening to Finley's speech at Pinstack is a tall 14-year-old Greenhill student.

She is Finley's daughter, Micah.

Michael says he likes having Micah at such events because it's her job to ensure that he is at least somewhat "hip" when he speaks to students.

Micah, too, is learning the value of broader education opportunities. This summer she will attend a weeklong camp at Georgetown to learn about emergent medical care, and a three-week creative writing camp at Yale.

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Micah also has seen father Michael and mother Rebekah's philanthropic spirit.

The Michael Finley Foundation sponsors a three-week summer program for 40 Carrolton-Farmers Branch ISD third- through seventh-graders that focuses on academic, health and wellness and social skills through counseling - with emphasis on involvement from the kids' parents.

While speaking at Pinstack, Finley sees his young self in many of the kids. The Plano Mayor's Summer Internship program connects students with local companies, providing eight-week paid internships at a minimum of $9 per hour, working 20-to-40 hour weeks.

Mayor LaRosiliere, who had to go to New York last-minute for a family matter, tells the interns in a videotaped message: "This is a chance to lay your path for the future. Start building those relationships. Finally, I'll leave you with three pieces of advice: Be ready, be in the moment, and be you."

On this day, the kickoff event to their internships, the students get photos taken for, and help setting up, their LinkedIn profiles.

The topic of Finley's speech is the importance of teamwork and being productive individually within that framework. Naturally, Finley cites what he learned as a Spur.

"The years before that, I was always considered to be one of the better players on the team, but we didn't have a good team," he says. "When I got to San Antonio, I realized that it takes more than an individual to win a championship. It takes a collective effort to be part of a successful team."

After the speech, Michael and Micah Finley help the interns through one of the team-building competitions.

In this one, teams of three strap their feet into five-foot-long wooden planks that are fashioned in the shape of extremely large feet. The teammates must effectively communicate when and how to take each step, together, while being timed to the finish line.

"This," Finley explains to one team, putting to use his NBA management experience, "is called the Dirk Nowitzki footrace."

Steven Tanner/

Michael Finley and his daughter, Micah, work together during a fun event at the 5th annual Plano Mayor s Summer Internship Program at Pinstack. Finley, the Dallas Mavericks assistant vice president of basketball operations, spoke to the interns about team building.